Food jinx

[catnapper]

I swear there is an eating out curse over me! I'm on vacation (only at home) so we have eaten out as if we are away from home. And every meal has been a disaster!

Monday at Ruby Tuesday: I ordered my meal. Hubby gets his and I wait.... and wait.... and wait. I finally flag the waitress who brings out cold shrimp skewers and the wrong sides. I ask for a manager and his answer is to offer me a free cupcake. Um, how about hot shrimp and the correct sides?

Tuesday at Smokey Bones: a grilled chicken salad that arrived with PINK chicken. I immediately comment on the raw chicken. They pick the chicken off and leave me with lettuce..... as if I will eat lettuce that touched raw chicken. The waitresses then ignored me and never brought cooked chicken

Wednesday at Outback Steakhouse: my $12 salad looks more like a $5 side salad. Brown lettuce, no apples like the menu described. I mentioned something to the waitress. She grabbed the manager who told me that it was my fault.... apparently I'm an idiot for ordering steakhouse. She actually told me to order steak. I just wanted green lettuce and apples.

I am done eating out!

[caseysmom]

I swear there is an eating out curse over me! I'm on vacation (only at home) so we have eaten out as if we are away from home. And every meal has been a disaster!

Monday at Ruby Tuesday: I ordered my meal. Hubby gets his and I wait.... and wait.... and wait. I finally flag the waitress who brings out cold shrimp skewers and the wrong sides. I ask for a manager and his answer is to offer me a free cupcake. Um, how about hot shrimp and the correct sides?

Tuesday at Smokey Bones: a grilled chicken salad that arrived with PINK chicken. I immediately comment on the raw chicken. They pick the chicken off and leave me with lettuce..... as if I will eat lettuce that touched raw chicken. The waitresses then ignored me and never brought cooked chicken

Wednesday at Outback Steakhouse: my $12 salad looks more like a $5 side salad. Brown lettuce, no apples like the menu described. I mentioned something to the waitress. She grabbed the manager who told me that it was my fault.... apparently I'm an idiot for ordering steakhouse. She actually told me to order steak. I just wanted green lettuce and apples.

I am done eating out!

Email all of their corporate offices with hopefully some names...they need to know...

[mrspunkysmom]

I hope you didn't pay for those meals.

[catland]

How disappointing!

I'm not familiar with the middle one, but I recognize the others as being national chains. Maybe you need to seek out some locally owned restaurants where there's actually an owner who will care if the customers are happy.

good luck!

[catnapper]

I hope you didn't pay for those meals.

Both Outback Steakhouse and Ruby Tuesday comped our meals. We were still so upset a couple days later that we sent the company emails.... not to get additional free meals because we never intend to return to either place, but to just get someone to acknowledge their misactions by their managers. A cupcake instead of what I ordered? Really?!?! And to be told I'm wrong for ordering salad in a steak house? My bad - I didn't know that you shouldn't order just any old thing off the menu

Smokey Bones did not offer to comp my meal, nor did they discount anything. I was surprised because that is one of my most favorite restaurants and never have had a bad experience there. Besides, I'm totally addicted to the salad that had the pink chicken. We went back yesterday because of that addiction. We have a favorite waitress and told her how we would NEVER eat there without her again. We laughed as we told her our previous experience. She relayed the expereince to the manager and he paid for BOTH our meals, gave us an additional $25 gift certificate, and a coupon for a free appetiser.

[phesina]

Good for you, letting them know!

[smokey the elder]

Do you have the Urban Spoon app? Hammer them on that, too, unless they make good. Since they're franchises, make sure you rag on the correct one.

[kitten645]

What Catland said...consider where you eat out. I don't do chains or shop big box stores. There's no way you can get a level of quality and service at prices provided @ huge corporate establishments. Eat local. Buy local. I'd rather eat out less often and pay a bit more when you know the owner is in the kitchen! Sorry for your experiences.

[catnapper]

Honestly, the local places are way out of our price point. We'll do the random diner and pizza/sandwich shop but the places where you sit quietly and have a waitress/waiter stop by and refill our drinks is waaayyyy out of our budget. There is a place just a couple doors down from me. The only thing I do is get excited to see what they throw out and I can recycle. I got three big potted hydrengeas out of their dumpster last week - it was all faded blooms but the leaves were green. A new bud sprouted yesterday As for me walking through the front door and ordering? Only if I wanted a $30 salad or $40 lasagna (made with the same noodles and sauce we can buy from Sams Club too... I know because I see whats in their dumpsters)

There is a new place I might try out that has a special promo. They have a semi-sane menu (price and flavor-wise). I will still walk away spending $50-$60 fro the two of us instead of my nromal $20-$25 including tip (we're REALLY good at knowing what place has what special and coupon at what time) Anyway, this place has insteresting flavor combos and if you go certain nights, they also give away two tickets to the movie theater across the street. Dinner and movie? I'm up for that!

We went to a local diner the other day.... I SWEAR I'm jinxed. I had a migraine and just wanted chicken noodle soup. They had it listed on the menu board as their soup of the day. YIPPIE! I sit down and don't look at the menu because I wanted the soup. The waitress comes and tells me that was yesterday's soup of the day and today was something utterly icky. Okie dokie. I'll take the chicken sandwich, but plain because my tummy won't handle much with a migraine. and please subsitute the fries with the veggie of the day (which is usually some green veggie) because my tummy does not llike potatoes when I have a migraine. My tummy needs as basic food as possible: rice, bland chicken, etc. So of course, the veggie of the day was potatoes. Just bring me the bland sandwich please. Sigh.

Oh, and why would I eat out with a migraine? Hubby asked me that too. I just wanted to get out of the house because I was tired of sitting in a dark room in the house and wanted to get out.

I wish I wasn't eating so healthy because the cake shop a block from here just won Food Network's Cupcake Wars, and I'd love to see how their cupcakes taste